Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 15,200 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 552,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,200 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 2.40% of Astec Industries worth $29,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 8,994.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 412.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $127,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on ASTE shares. Zacks Research upgraded Astec Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astec Industries presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASTE opened at $56.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.36, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.07 and a 200-day moving average of $54.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Astec Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.88 and a fifty-two week high of $65.69.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.34). Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $396.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $393.24 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Profile

Astec Industries, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized equipment for infrastructure-related markets. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company develops, engineers and produces machinery for asphalt road-building, aggregate processing, concrete production, underground mining, landscaping and utility installation. Astec’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants, portable crushers, conveyors, screening plants, mixers, continuous miners and related support equipment.

Organized into multiple operating segments—Roadbuilding; Aggregate & Mining; Energy; and Pavement Preservation & Maintenance—Astec Industries serves contractors and municipalities that build and maintain transportation, energy and utility networks.